PROG2130 NETWORK APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT

ASSIGNMENT 4 – FINAL PROJECT PROOF OF CONCEPT

A. SAAD IMRAN (7218332)

NOVEMBER 18, 2018

ABSTRACT / ASSIGNMENT SCOPE

This assignment hopes to lay the preliminary groundwork for a “used book store” web application which is being
developed as a final project for the network application development course in the software engineering program.
For this assignment, the Google App Engine was used along with the Python language. The associated frameworks
included with the SDK and language were also used for the project. Google App Engine and the associated SDK
provide amazing and simple tools for the implementation of common web applications and services. Ultimately,
this decision to use Google Cloud services with Python provided convenience and trouble in its own way but the
use of Google Cloud’s free PaaS options was satisfying overall.

Web application is deployed at https://thebookstoreproject-222821.appspot.com/

The application is obviously not designed for commercial purposes, the main audience is Ed.

DEPLOYMENT PROCESS

I was deploying the Google App Engine platform and the quick start guide in the documentation for the platform
(https://cloud.google.com/appengine/docs/standard/python/quickstart) demonstrates the steps I took to test the
app locally and deploy to the internet. All development, testing and debugging was done locally using the
“dev_appserver.py” script and then deployed to the internet using the “gcloud app deploy”. Though it is very
convenient to use app engine for deploying Python web applications, there are a few downsides.

To use a database, you have to use Google’s datastore along with their custom non-relational SQL implementation
called GQL. Though it is possible to use other databases besides Google’s own, Google has made it terribly
inconvenient for beginners and people not familiar with the platform. So, in essence, I had to use Google’s
database tech to deploy to their platform but the upside was that their databases are very easy to use and have
many interesting features not present in the conventional MySQL databases which are commonly used.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

I originally became aware of Google’s services a few years ago because of a few YouTube tutorials done by “Steve
Huffman”, the creator of Reddit. Reddit’s own back-end was written in a similar fashion using Python and the use
of Google’s platform services made a strong impression on me after watching these tutorials. For this project, it
just seemed like the easiest choice for me because it is the platform I am most comfortable with.

ARCHITECTURAL VIEWS
NEXT STEPS

So, for this assignment, my main focus was to create a user sign in and authentication system. The “transactions”
for different books are deliberately kept very simple. The next step would be to create a shopping cart feature and
displaying more detail about the previous transactions by a particular user. Additionally, the selling and purchasing
process can be improved in many different ways, including offering more metadata options for describing a book
for sale and including image uploads.
EVALUATION FORM

Please include this page at the end of your report document. All criteria are graded from zero to five. Be sure to
complete the self evaluation.

Document Self Evaluation Score

Completeness 2/5 /5

Format 4/5 /5

Clarity / Writing 3/5 /5

References 5/5 /5

Document Total / 20

Demonstration Self Evaluation Score

Readiness 5/5 /5

Technical Self Evaluation Score

Proof-of-Concept Functionality 4/5 /5

UI Quality 5/5 /5

Bug Free Operation 5/ 5 /5

SET Coding Standards 5/5 /5

Technical Subtotal / 20

Completeness Scale Factor 4/5 /5

Technical Total (Technical Subtotal * Completeness / 5) / 25

Reflection Self Evaluation Score

Self Evaluation Accuracy 4/5 /5

Assignment Total / 50